4 Years ago petrol used to cost around R11 – R12 per litre. And at the time that was a lot. We were all very unhappy about that.
But shockingly over the last 4 years the price of petrol has shot up to around R25 per litre.
This means that every time anything needs to be transported (like food from farms to depots, to distribution warehouses, to stores) it is now costing twice as much to do so. And since most transport companies factor in fuel as 50% of their costs this has had a dramatic impact on the cost of the items being transported.
It is said that 85% of all goods moved in the country are moved via roads. So, you can see why this has driven the inflation rate over the past few years (and No, changing interest rates has no impact on that).